The books industry today received a major boost as figures showed total sales from physical and digital titles last year climbed 4% to £3.3 billion in Britain.

The e-books boom continued, with sales leaping by two-thirds to £411 million, representing around 12% of the market, up from 8% a year earlier, according to the Publishers’ Association.

Digital sales of fiction rose even faster, increasing by almost 150%, thanks in part to publishing sensation Fifty Shades of Grey, the bondage trilogy by London author EL James.

Print books remain very popular as readers still value the physical medium — unlike in other media sectors such as music where consumers have embraced digital.Sales of children’s books in physical form even rose, by 4% to £233 million, proving the shift towards digital is not inexorable. Sales of physical school books were also up.

“British publishing is a healthy industry which continues to grow,” declared Richard Mollet, chief executive of The Publishers Association, which represents 113 companies across the books industry.

Mollet said success was underpinned by “the strong framework provided by copyright law” in a veiled warning to the Government that it should not relax laws on internet and digital piracy.

“The continued increase in digital sales across different disciplines illustrates the shift of readers to e-book reading,” he added.